SportsNetwork Previews Big Red at Johnnies

Cornell (8-2) at St. John's (9-1)

The Sports Network

DATE & TIME: Monday, December 21st, 9:00 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Madison Square Garden (19,876) -- New York, New York. Television: MSG2. Home Record: Cornell 1-1, SJU 4-0. Away Record: Cornell 4-1, SJU 1-1. Neutral Record: Cornell 3-0, SJU 4-0. Conference Record: Cornell 0-0, SJU 0-0. Series Record: St. John's leads, 1-0.

GAME NOTES: The St. John's Red Storm seek their 15th Holiday Festival title tonight, as they take on the Cornell Big Red in the championship game at Madison Square Garden.

The Red Storm continued its fast start to the season on Sunday, as it used a strong finish to defeat Hofstra, 72-60, in the first round of this event. It was the third win in a row for SJU, which is off to a 9-1 start. The Red Storm is now 67-37 all-time in the Holiday Festival and is gunning for its first title since 2005.

As for Cornell, it was involved in a thriller on Sunday and it came away with a last-second 91-88 overtime victory over Davidson in first-round action. The win is the sixth straight for the Big Red, which now stands at 8-2 on the camping.

The Big Red and Red Storm met for the first-ever last season, with SJU notching an 86-75 win.

Ryan Wittman drained a 30-footer as time expired in overtime, lifting Cornell to a 91-88 win over Davidson yesterday. Wittman finished with a game-high 29 points, going 7-of-16 from beyond the arc. Jeff Foote added a double-double of 16 points and 14 boards, while Chris Wroblewski checked in with 14 points. Louis Dale turned in nine points and seven assists and he forced overtime on a layup with 0.7 seconds left. For the season, Wittman tops the roster in scoring at 19.1 ppg and he is shooting 41.8 percent from three-point range. Foote is a presence in the paint and he nearly averages a double-double with 13.5 ppg and a team-high 9.4 rpg. Wroblewski puts forth 11.0 ppg, while Dale rounds out the double-figure scorers with 10.1 ppg.

Down 59-54 with just under seven minutes left, SJU closed the game with an 18-1 run, as it claimed the 72-60 win over Hofstra on Sunday. The Red Storm held an 18-7 advantage in free-throw points, in addition to owning the boards, 53-41. D.J. Kennedy led the way with a double-double that consisted of 19 points and 15 rebounds. It was another solid performance by Kennedy, who leads the squad in scoring (16.7 ppg) and assists (3.5 apg), to go with 6.6 rpg for the season. Dwight Hardy, who had 17 points on Sunday, completes a short list of Red Storm double-digit scorers with 10.5 ppg.

Cornell is coming off a dramatic win and this team has plenty of weapons to capture the tourney title over SJU tonight.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Cornell 71, St. John's 66